Never again

[arrow]

Been cutting wood for 60 years.
I tried something new today.
Had a load of stems delivered and the driver asked if he could bring me a 40” wide stem, 15’ long and tapering to 32”. I said “sure” since I got this new Champion vert/*** splitter.
So I take to it with my 20” bar and my tried and true Husky 257 and 3 cuts into this thing and I’m out of fuel. Now I have these 3 cookies averaging 36” wide and 16” long and they weigh at least 250 lbs per.
I try to stand them on end so I can roll them to the splitter and have to use a 4’ peavy to get them up.
I get them to the splitter and push them up the splitter foot w the tractor.
The 27 ton splitter easily splits this wood but to wrangle the splits is back breaking.
4 hrs later including bringing these splits to the woodshed to be stacked, I got the stem half done.
Yes it produces a lot of wood but it’s way too much work so, I won’t be doing that again.

 

[4570Man]

A sharp saw would go a long way toward making your day easier. And you can noodle them into 1/4s pretty easily which makes getting them in the splitter a lot easier.

 

[BravoXray]

Bigger isn't always better, sometimes.

 

[arrow]

A sharp saw would go a long way toward making your day easier. And you can noodle them into 1/4s pretty easily which makes getting them in the splitter a lot easier.

I used to log professionally.
I wouldn’t think of cutting with anything but sharp.
I find noodling a giant pain.
What works better is to index the round on the edges with a chainsaw cut to hold a wedge. Make the cuts across from each other and insert the wedges then pound away.
Much faster than noodling.
I was just too stubborn today.
If I got this new fangled splitter designed to wack a round vertically, then by golly, that what it had to do
Also, my chainsaw is too small for this work. I could have used my 272 that was stolen years ago.

 

[arrow]

Bigger isn't always better, sometimes.

Nope, it ain't always even if it’s applying to banana splits

 

[Jstpssng]

That's when my grapple is nice; put the round at about splitter hieght, then roll the splitter underneath.
Of course anything I brought home that size was loaded by hand, any wood left on my property is 12" or less.

 

[WinterDeere]

There were a few years when it felt like everything I was dragging home was over 36" diameter. Lagest was a white oak that was 60" diameter where it broke off about 15 feet above the ground, and flared out to more than 72" diameter at knee height. But there were many ash trees from the same property that were all 36" - 44".

I took to noodling most of that big stuff into 8" thick slabs, then "walking" those slabs over to the vertical splitter. You get used to moving those heavy pieces with a lot less effort after awhile, but still a total PITA.

I was only in my late 30's or very early 40's, when I was doing most of that, so still excited by such heroic efforts.

 

[Yander]

Been cutting wood for 60 years.
I tried something new today.
Had a load of stems delivered and the driver asked if he could bring me a 40” wide stem, 15’ long and tapering to 32”. I said “sure” since I got this new Champion vert/*** splitter.
So I take to it with my 20” bar and my tried and true Husky 257 and 3 cuts into this thing and I’m out of fuel. Now I have these 3 cookies averaging 36” wide and 16” long and they weigh at least 250 lbs per.
I try to stand them on end so I can roll them to the splitter and have to use a 4’ peavy to get them up.
I get them to the splitter and push them up the splitter foot w the tractor.
The 27 ton splitter easily splits this wood but to wrangle the splits is back breaking.
4 hrs later including bringing these splits to the woodshed to be stacked, I got the stem half done.
Yes it produces a lot of wood but it’s way too much work so, I won’t be doing that again.

Makes a great shooting backstop; that's what we use.

 

[arrow]

That's when my grapple is nice; put the round at about splitter hieght, then roll the splitter underneath.
Of course anything I brought home that size was loaded by hand, any wood left on my property is 12" or less.

Ok wait a minute:
Let me get this straight.
You’re picking up a 36” round with the grapple and rolling the splitter under it?
So your splitter is a pass through or moving wedge horizontal?
What happens to the 125lb splits?
One remains on the beam and the other?

 

[4570Man]

I used to log professionally.
I wouldn’t think of cutting with anything but sharp.
I find noodling a giant pain.
What works better is to index the round on the edges with a chainsaw cut to hold a wedge. Make the cuts across from each other and insert the wedges then pound away.
Much faster than noodling.
I was just too stubborn today.
If I got this new fangled splitter designed to wack a round vertically, then by golly, that what it had to do
Also, my chainsaw is too small for this work. I could have used my 272 that was stolen years ago.

I could have those noodled in 1/4s with my 500i or 372xp in 1 or 2 minutes each. Thats a heck of a lot faster and easier than pounding wedges.

 

[4570Man]

Ok wait a minute:
Let me get this straight.
You’re picking up a 36” round with the grapple and rolling the splitter under it?
So your splitter is a pass through or moving wedge horizontal?
What happens to the 125lb splits?
One remains on the beam and the other?

I’ve put pieces that big on my horizontal splitter. One piece stays on the beam. If I’m working with a helper usually they can hold the second piece on the beam and stop it from falling off. If it does fall off then it’s on the opposite side of the lift and I have to use the machine to move them back over to the lift side. If I was working by myself I usually would just noodle a round that size before attempting to split it.

 

[arrow]

I could have those noodled in 1/4s with my 500i or 372xp in 1 or 2 minutes each. Thats a heck of a lot faster and easier than pounding wedges.

You’re talking red oak?
I owned the 272 with a 24” bar and I could not get through a round like I experienced today noodling in one or two minutes.
Speaking of the 500, we sell those.
It was once a $1399 saw.
I looked at the ones on the shelf yesterday….$1849. Made me blink a bit

 

[4570Man]

You’re talking red oak?
I owned the 272 with a 24” bar and I could not get through a round like I experienced today noodling in one or two minutes.
Speaking of the 500, we sell those.
It was once a $1399 saw.
I looked at the ones on the shelf yesterday….$1849. Made me blink a bit

It would probably take 30 seconds a cut to noodle a round that size with a 500I or equal saw. The saw that made those chips in your first picture was not sharp at all. Here’s a random YouTube video of a 500i noodling a piece of white oak.

 

[CalG]

For the big rounds that get delivered "too often",
I hang the log tongs off the bucket hook, with the wife operating the tractor, I guide her placement on the Horizontal splitter. The splits fall where they will, just pick 'em up with the tongs again.

True there are a lot of splits in a big round, but WHAT A PIA!

The load of logs on the rack out front now are "processer grade" ;-) Nothing over about 16 inches.

I paid extra, I'm getting too old for that crap.

By the way, a log truck load goes for $1050 (7-8 cord, mixed hardwood)
Did you get a discount for taking that big one?

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Been cutting wood for 60 years.
I tried something new today.
Had a load of stems delivered and the driver asked if he could bring me a 40” wide stem, 15’ long and tapering to 32”. I said “sure” since I got this new Champion vert/*** splitter.
So I take to it with my 20” bar and my tried and true Husky 257 and 3 cuts into this thing and I’m out of fuel. Now I have these 3 cookies averaging 36” wide and 16” long and they weigh at least 250 lbs per.
I try to stand them on end so I can roll them to the splitter and have to use a 4’ peavy to get them up.
I get them to the splitter and push them up the splitter foot w the tractor.
The 27 ton splitter easily splits this wood but to wrangle the splits is back breaking.
4 hrs later including bringing these splits to the woodshed to be stacked, I got the stem half done.
Yes it produces a lot of wood but it’s way too much work so, I won’t be doing that again.

I don't blame you, there is to much easier wood to find to split.

 

[arrow]

For the big rounds that get delivered "too often",
I hang the log tongs off the bucket hook, with the wife operating the tractor, I guide her placement on the Horizontal splitter. The splits fall where they will, just pick 'em up with the tongs again.

True there are a lot of splits in a big round, but WHAT A PIA!

The load of logs on the rack out front now are "processer grade" ;-) Nothing over about 16 inches.

I paid extra, I'm getting too old for that crap.

By the way, a log truck load goes for $1050 (7-8 cord, mixed hardwood)
Did you get a discount for taking that big one?

Well, I know a guy.
He charged me $400 as I help him cut wood but his bunks got caught up in some low hanging trees going down my lane so he’s not gonna come back and I’m not gonna ask another with a full size log truck to come down that lane.
Out here they get $1200 for that size
Ordinarily

 

[arrow]

I don't blame you, there is to much easier wood to find to split.

Like the wood in the back ground of the two behemoths.

 

[CalG]

Well, I know a guy.
He charged me $400 as I help him cut wood but his bunks got caught up in some low hanging trees going down my lane so he’s not gonna come back and I’m not gonna ask another with a full size log truck to come down that lane.
Out here they get $1200 for that size
Ordinarily

Close enough!

 

[arrow]

It would probably take 30 seconds a cut to noodle a round that size with a 500I or equal saw. The saw that made those chips in your first picture was not sharp at all. Here’s a random YouTube video of a 500i noodling a piece of white oak.

I’ll tell you what, I’ll test out a noodle with my saw and then a split w my wedge method. Since I don’t have your saws, I’ll work with my saw with its very dull chain.
When a saw is not pressured or levered with the dogs in a big cut and it eases in the cut for hand swap or arm rest, it will make smaller chips.
Doing this with my undersized saw is tiring and the last thing I’d want is a dull chain.
I hit a dirt patch on one of these large stems that I didn’t see and immediately brought in the saw for sharpening.
I am not gonna cope with a dull saw.

 

[CalG]

Well, I know a guy.
He charged me $400 as I help him cut wood but his bunks got caught up in some low hanging trees going down my lane so he’s not gonna come back and I’m not gonna ask another with a full size log truck to come down that lane.
Out here they get $1200 for that size
Ordinarily

The young fellow that lives up the hill a bit on our private drive does a good business with processing fire wood. My guess he has had 15 or more truck and pup trailer loads delivered this year. Always "perfect processor sticks". He drove out twice with his 1 ton dump body making deliveries today.

I can't handle a truck and trailer, No place to turn around, and I run out of space to stack the splits as a full load would be several year's of heat. since I've gone to pellets as background heat.